Samsung and Vodafone Complete First Data Call With AMD Processors on an Open RAN Network

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Vodafone, in collaboration with AMD, today announced that the three companies have successfully demonstrated an end-to-end call withย the latest AMDย processors enabling Open RAN technology, a first for the industry.
Samsung and Vodafone Complete First Data Call With AMD Processors on an Open RAN Network
Image Credit: Samsung

Samsung Media Release | Feb 13, 2024


Companies reinforce Open RAN expansion, leveraging their technical expertise amassed
from large-scale commercial Open RAN network deployment

SEOUL, Korea โ€“ February [13], 2024 โ€“ย Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Vodafone, in collaboration with AMD, today announced that the three companies have successfully demonstrated an end-to-end call withย the latest AMDย processors enabling Open RAN technology, a first for the industry. This joint achievement represents the companiesโ€™ technical leadership in enriching the Open RAN ecosystem throughout the industry.

Conducted in Samsungโ€™s R&D lab in Korea, the first call was completed using Samsungโ€™s versatile, O-RAN-compliant, virtualized RAN (vRAN) software, powered by AMD EPYC 8004 Series processors on Supermicroโ€™s Telco/Edge servers, supported by Wind River Studio Container-as-a-Service (CaaS) platform. This demonstration aimed to verify optimized performance, energy efficiency and interoperability among partnersโ€™ solutions.

The joint demonstration represents Samsung and Vodafoneโ€™s ongoing commitment to reinforce their position in the Open RAN market and expand their ecosystem with industry-leading partners. This broader and growing Open RAN ecosystem helps operators to build and modernize mobile networks with greater flexibility, faster time-to-market (TTM), and unmatched performance.

[From left, Junehee Lee (Samsung Electronics), June Moon (Samsung Electronics), Nadia Benabdallah (Vodafone Group), Yago Tenorio (Vodafone Group), Alberto Ripepi (Vodafone Group), Woojune Kim (Samsung Electronics)]

โ€œOpen RAN represents the forthcoming major transformation in advancing mobile networks for the future. Reaching this milestone with top industry partners like Samsung and AMD shows Vodafoneโ€™s dedication to delivering on the promise of Open RAN innovation,โ€ said Nadia Benabdallah, Network Strategy and Engineering Director at Vodafone Group. โ€œVodafone is continually looking to innovate its network by exploring the potential and diversity of the ecosystem.โ€

โ€œThis collective effort marks a key milestone for the mobile network industry to steer Open RAN forward, by embracing multiple providers at every layer of the network stack. The demo illustrates Samsungโ€™s commitment to delivering the full potential of mobile networks by embracing openness,โ€ said June Moon, Executive Vice President & Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. โ€œSamsung is constantly working with other technology frontrunners to offer operators the means to transform their networks and capitalize on the diversity of the Open RAN ecosystem.โ€

โ€œThe telco industry continues to demand new levels of performance and energy efficiency with increasingly complex workloads and stringent efficiency targets,โ€ said Kumaran Siva, corporate vice president, Strategic Market Development, AMD. โ€œAMD EPYC 8004 Series CPUs are optimized for modern edge and vRAN deployment models to enable the telco industryโ€™s current evolution toward truly end-to-end open, virtualized networks. We are extremely proud of our collaboration with Samsung and Vodafone, leveraging our latest data center processors to modernize legacy telco infrastructure and deliver the leadership Open RAN performance, efficiency and scalability needed to build highly innovative mobile networks.โ€

โ€œAs the telecom industry continues to rapidly evolve, Samsung and its ecosystem partners are at the forefront of innovation and transformation,โ€ said Prakash Sangam, Founder & Principal of Tantra Analyst. โ€œThis technical achievement between Samsung, Vodafone and AMD validates the enhanced capabilities among all three companiesโ€™ solutions and supports new vendors in the expanding Open RAN ecosystem.โ€

The companies will demonstrate its test result exceeding 1Gbps throughput for multi UE on multi-cell configuration at MWC 2024.

In June 2021, Samsung became a strategic partner for Vodafone to carry out its Open RAN vision to modernize legacy networks and grow a strong Open RAN ecosystem. Since then, the companies have been expanding their collaboration, recently marking aย milestoneย of kicking off the largest Open RAN rollout in the U.K. in August 2023. Samsung announced a newย collaborationย with AMD as well to advance 5G vRAN and virtualized Open RAN for network transformation.

Samsungโ€™s strong ecosystem illustrates its leadership in offering vRAN and Open RAN solutions that are reliable and sustainable, exceeding telco-grade performance. With the goal of pre-testing and integrating, Samsung has sought to validate its vRAN and Open RAN solutions, to offer network operators an efficient path to market. Samsung has proven its extensive expertise in commercial networks for Tier 1 operators in North America, Europe and Asia.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio, from vRAN 3.0, Open RAN, Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company currently provides network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.


About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, home appliances, network systems, and memory, system LSI, foundry and LED solutions, and delivering a seamless connected experience through its SmartThings ecosystem and open collaboration with partners. For the latest news, please visit the Samsung Newsroom atย news.samsung.com.


Recent Content

The telecom industry in 2025 is undergoing a major transformation, driven by artificial intelligence (AI), cloud growth, next-gen cellular networks, and national data sovereignty. AI is reshaping cellular infrastructure, enhancing spectrum efficiency through innovations like ELAA (Extremely Large Aperture Arrays), and enabling smarter, adaptive networks.
Vodafone is expanding its role in the UK smart metering upgrade by providing fixed-line connectivity between energy suppliers and the Data Service Platform (DSP). This move complements its existing mobile network role and positions Vodafone as a critical telecom partner in the UK’s digital energy transition, helping to advance national net-zero and smart grid goals.
As AI workloads explode in complexity and scale, telecom providers face a $1B+ opportunity to evolve from traditional carriers into AI connectivity enablers. This article explores how telcos can monetize AI-driven traffic through dynamic network infrastructure, edge AI hosting, and cloud-like billing models tailored to modern enterprise demands.
The fiber, data center, and telecom sectors are evolving rapidly amid rising AI workloads, cloud expansion, edge computing, and new investment models. This article breaks down the key trends โ€” from fiber deployments in rural markets to secondary data center expansions and telecoms shifting to platform-based services, that are reshaping digital infrastructure for a hyperconnected future.
Huaweiโ€™s new AI chip, the Ascend 910D, has raised concerns about Nvidiaโ€™s China business, but analysts say it lacks the global performance, ecosystem, and efficiency to compete with Nvidiaโ€™s H100 GPU. Built on 7nm technology with limited software support, Huaweiโ€™s chip may gain local traction but poses no major international threatโ€”yet.
Whitepaper
Telecom networks are facing unprecedented complexity with 5G, IoT, and cloud services. Traditional service assurance methods are becoming obsolete, making AI-driven, real-time analytics essential for competitive advantage. This independent industry whitepaper explores how DPUs, GPUs, and Generative AI (GenAI) are enabling predictive automation, reducing operational costs, and improving service quality....
Whitepaper
Explore the collaboration between Purdue Research Foundation, Purdue University, Ericsson, and Saab at the Aviation Innovation Hub. Discover how private 5G networks, real-time analytics, and sustainable innovations are shaping the "Airport of the Future" for a smarter, safer, and greener aviation industry....
Article & Insights
This article explores the deployment of 5G NR Transparent Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs), detailing the architecture's advantages and challenges. It highlights how this "bent-pipe" NTN approach integrates ground-based gNodeB components with NGSO satellite constellations to expand global connectivity. Key challenges like moving beam management, interference mitigation, and latency are discussed, underscoring...

Download Magazine

With Subscription

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Scroll to Top